Isaiah 33:1-24 CEB

[1] Doom to the destroyer left undestroyed, you traitor whom none have betrayed: when you have finished destroying, you will be destroyed; and when you have stopped betraying, they will betray you. [2] LORD, show us favor; we hope in you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in times of distress. [3] At the noise, peoples fled; on account of your roar, nations scattered. [4] They gathered spoil like insects; they rushed upon it like a swarm of locusts. [5] The LORD is exalted; he lives on high, filling Zion with justice and righteousness. [6] He will provide security during a lifetime: a source of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge—fear of the LORD will be Zion’s treasure. [7] But then those in Ariel cried out in the streets; messengers of peace wept bitterly. [8] The highways were deserted; travelers left the road. The covenant was broken; solemn pledges were rejected; no one cared for humanity. [9] The land mourned; it wasted away; Lebanon was ashamed; it withered. Sharon became like the desert, and Bashan and Carmel were dropping their leaves. [10] Now I will arise, says the LORD. Now I will exalt myself; now I will stand tall. [11] You conceive straw, give birth to stubble; your breath is a fire that devours you. [12] Peoples will be burned to lime, thorns cut up and set ablaze. [13] You who are far away, hear what I have done; and you who are near, know my strength! [14] Sinners became terrified in Zion; trembling seized the godless: “Who among us can live with the devouring fire? Who among us can live with the everlasting blaze?” [15] The one who walks righteously and speaks truthfully, who rejects profit from extortion, who waves away a bribe instead of grabbing it, who won’t listen to bloody plots, and who won’t contemplate doing something evil. [16] He will live on the heights; fortresses in the cliffs will be his refuge. His food will be provided, his water guaranteed. [17] When you gaze upon a king in his glamour and look at the surrounding land, [18] in dismay you will think: Where is the one who counts? Where is the one who weighs? Where is the one who counts towers? [19] You will no longer see the defiant people, the people of speech too obscure to understand, who stammer in an incomprehensible language. [20] Gaze upon Zion, our festival town. Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a carefree dwelling, a tent that is not packed up, whose stakes are never pulled up, whose ropes won’t snap. [21] The LORD’s majesty will be there for us: as a place of rivers, broad streams where no boat will go, no majestic ship will cross. [22] The LORD is our judge; the LORD is our leader; the LORD is our king—he will deliver us. [23] Your ropes are loosened; they can’t hold the mast firmly; they can’t spread the sail. Then abundant spoil will be divided; even the lame will seize spoil. [24] And no inhabitant will say, “I’m sick.” The people living there will be forgiven their sin.